A24 Replacing Keel Bolts on Zethar by Geoff Marks.

A weep from the aft keel bolt.

This post was copied from the old web site and describes the steps taken by Geoff Marks removing and replacing the aft keel bolts on "Zethar" in 2002/3. 

For illustrative purposes only, professional advice was taken before starting and during the job and you should do the same.

The weep meant a breach in the hull to keel join but this was easy to find as the place was marked by a small patch of rust and cracking in the antifouling at the after end of the keel on the starboard side. The gap was revealed with a scraper.

The rest of the join was good and there was no other cracking, not even on the port side aft. The offending gap was cleaned and left to dry out. Zethar had been epoxied in 1986 and a skin of epoxy covered the hull to keel join, so this was disturbed that as little as possible.

The bolt was removed using an open ended spanner with a three foot (1 metre) length of pipe for leverage. Although it was tight at first and for the first few turns the bolt undid easily enough. 

The drawn bolt was in good condition for close to 30 years old.

The bolt before cleaning. A length of new 1 Inch dia BSW
(British Standard Whitworth) threaded bar is included in the
pictures for comparison.

After cleaning.

There was cracking found in the grp under the plate washer.

It seemed that there was foam under the grp and
after more cleaning it looked like the hole was lined.

The lined hole meant there was some support
beneath the grp which it was hoped would
make a repair easier.

A professional was employed who had all the experience and tools needed and soon had the grp cut away. Underneath was a solid block of what looked like cement which explained the lined hole. This gave a solid foundation for the repair and solved the potential problem of keeping the bolthole clear of resin. The 'cement' block turned out to be a mix of resin and micro-balloons which are a grey powder before mixing.

A resin and glass mix was used for the repair to make a solid block to tighten the new bolt down onto. Because of the thickness of resin needed it was applied in two stages. In the first glassing the mix was pushed out under the edges of the grp and the block was covered.

This was left to cure completely before the second glassing was done.

The second glassing was a bit more complex as it was necessary to keep the bolthole clear and get the level of the resin correct so that the new plate washer would seat properly. This was done by replacing the old bolt and the new plate washer (made of 10mm thick mild steel) and wrapping them both in release tape topped with a smear of silicon grease.

You can see that the plate washer is flush with the resin. This is because the resin was squeezing out unevenly around the edges of the washer so making it flush was much tidier. The thickness of the resin was built up at the forward edge to get the washer square with the bolt. The washer and bolt were removed the next day and the resin left another 24 hours to cure.

The laminator did an excellent job!

An A24 on The Round Lundy Race 2009, by Nicki Crutchfield.

Transferred from the old website.

In 2005 when the first edition of this race was run I was unable to enter, I can't remember why, but I thought it was just the best idea for a race. It is a very complete race in that it starts in the morning, goes on all day, includes an island circumnavigation, and home on the evening flood. It is just long enough to settle into, but not so far that it puts people off. It is always run on springs (morning and evening high water) and is massively tide dependent, with a tide gate which, once shut, is race over if missed. Depending on the weather it is either north about or south about with the final decision made the night before. For the 2009 edition we were to go north about. For those who don't know the Bristol Channel the tides are fabulous magic carpets or an impossible nightmare depending on planning and luck, and, at the western end, we are very open to ocean swell. The combination of these two, and the absence of any all-tide safe havens on the North Devon side can make for 'character-building' sailing.

In 2006 I took part 2 handed in a Westerly Fulmar and we missed the tide gate. We made it round without the engine, but were disqualified on time. 2007 saw me entering solo in Delyth my Hunter 19. That gallant little ship brought me home second in Class 2. I missed 2008 as I had no boat, but I was determined to enter Merlin, again solo, in 2009.

The Author onboard A24 A040, "Merlin" in Newlyn Harbour.
Photo by Ron Dustow who later had Merlin for a while.

The day dawned with a very light NNW wind maybe F1-2. I had a good start and, once the engine was put away and the plug inserted, set her up for light wind close-hauled sailing. This was the first time I had sailed her against any other boats and it was only my second sail in an Achilles, but right away I could see how, if I kept a relaxed hand on the tiller, I could point as high as any of the boats and faster than most. I began to really enjoy myself. The beauty and peace were perfect. I love sailing on my own. I can do exactly as I like, when I like and this time was no exception. I drank plenty of water, ate lightly having had a good breakfast and steered and tweaked and tweaked and steered. Getting closer to the island the wind steadily backed until it was a light westerly. Those with less windward ability were quite a way north by now. As we rounded the north end of the island I was just ahead of a Contessa 32. She boldly stood in towards the rocks and managed to take me on the inside. We fought neck and neck all the way down the west side of Lundy without changing position. I could not reel her in but nor could she lose me. In an ever lighter wind but still with a fair current we continued down the island. Towards the bottom end, in spite of the fact that it was past LW Ilfracombe I found myself with a ground speed of over seven knots and boat speed of four. That tide again; still running south hard at 3 knots. Coming round the southern end I genuinely thought my race was over. In an effort to get a better handicap I had elected to take the 4% bonus of not having a spi. The wind was dead west and the other boats were raising their kites. My aim then became to make it home before the 8pm deadline.

A couple of hours later I could see that many of the boats I thought were ahead of me were in fact retired having failed to make the tide gate. I kept going, moving around the boat as gently as possible in order not to upset her progress. We were on a dead run doing 2.9 knots. I could not feel a breath of wind but she just kept going. Ground speed picked up as the tide took us, but we still had a miraculous 2,9 knots boat speed. We were going to need to get everything exactly right to make the finish before the deadline and I doubled my efforts, gybing whenever there seemed to be any chance of advantage, and all the while fiddling. With the northerly set of the tide up the west coast past Croyde and Woolacombe there is much to be gained by putting in a bit of southing after rounding Lundy as the tide carries one along at quite a lick. In spite of having been pretty bold with my southing, I saw that we were running the risk of getting to far north and not making it over the narrow finish line between the two buoys. To make it in time and then miss the line would be too much. I had to make as much southing as I could along the north coast back to Ilfracombe. With real joy I crossed the line at 19.43 with just over quarter of an hour to spare. My elapsed time was 10.58:32 to cover the 50 mile course.

After sorting out sails, getting the outboard in the hole and motoring into the harbour, I had a quick baby wipe wash and went to the clubhouse for supper and prize giving. Suitably fed and enjoying a glass of Guinness, I was delighted to be presented with a trophy for 1st in class 2. This was bigger than my second in class 2 of the previous time so it felt really very good indeed. I also was given a very nice Guy Cotten rain coat. More prizes were presented, when suddenly there were hands clapping me on the back and cheering faces as I heard Merlin's name being called as overall winner. My gamble with the spi had paid off handsomely as, on corrected time, I had only won by 12 minutes.

Blasting home two days later in 30 knots of wind against tide, snug and dry in my beautiful new Guy Cotten foul weather gear given me as 1st prize, I was thinking about how incredibly important it is to really pay attention when racing. A few duff minutes can be the difference between having to be wet and cold in my old Mustos or snug and dry in the new gear.

Of course, the only problem now is whether or not to enter with a spinnaker next year. 

Nicki

Achilles 24 Keel bolt Maintenance.

By Butler Mouldings, Oct 1978

The keel bolts are, in fact, not bolts at all but are lengths cut to appropriate size of 1" Whitworth continuous studding, i.e. lengths of round mild steel bar that are threaded along their entire length.

Mild steel is used rather than High Tensile steel as H.T. steel corrodes much faster than Mild Steel: we prefer to use Mild Steel rather than Stainless because there could be corrosion of the threads in the cast iron Keel itself due to the difference between iron and stainless steel in terms of galvanic corrosion and because in time stainless steel is prone to embrittlement. At least with mild steel it is obvious that the bolts need to be checked whereas stainless could be left forever in the mistaken belief that because it is stainless it never needs checking. The threads in the keel are, after all, just as important as the bolts.

The studs are screwed into the cast iron keel to a depth of 2" - 3" prior to fitting the keel and the studs offered up into the holes in the hull; subsequently, the keel nuts are tightened down onto heavy washers or plates according to their position. To check the keel bolts it will be necessary to remove them and dependent upon the length of time since installation there may be different methods required to affect removal. Before attempting to remove the nuts or studs give the nuts and studs a prolonged soaking in "Plus-Gas" or some similar penetrating oil.

In the simplest of cases, it may be sufficient to lock one nut against another. First loosen the existing nut, then run on another nut and tighten the lower nut against the top nut using two ring spanners. Having locked the two nuts by further unscrewing the lowest nut the stud will come out. Remove the studs one by one replacing the first before removing the second and so on.

In more stubborn cases it will sometimes be necessary to run the nut close to the top of the stud and arc-weld the nut to the stud thus transforming the stud/nut combination into a "bolt" which can then be removed with either a ring spanner or a heavy duty box spanner with a long, very sturdy, through bar. If this later method is adopted shield the fibreglass from any sparks from the arc-welder and check that if an inboard engine is connected to the keel in any way break the connection or welding may ruin the alternator.

If the bolts are in good condition they may be replaced having covered the lower part with a good water repellent grease and using plenty of Mastic under the nut and washer.

A new web site for Achilles Owners.

WIP The old Achilles web site has been around for a long time, as a winter project I am in the process of moving and expanding it to here, it will not replace the Flickr site.

Owners (or any one else) are able to post directly to: 

• "For Sale" or "Wanted" (short text ads only).
• Corrections to ownership data.
• Comment on posts or pages.

To avoid spam, all of the above will be subject to admin approval before displaying on the site.

Posts to the blog section can be made by admin(s) or anyone who asks to be a "guest author" on a one off or continuing basis. Admin(s), when available, will also facilitate putting more complex adverts into the "For Sale" pages and longer posts to the blog for those who don't have Google accounts.

Watch this space.